How data surveillance, digital forensics, and generative AI pose new long-term threats and opportunities--and how we can use them to make better decisions in the face of technological uncertainty. In
The Secret Life of Data, Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert explore the many unpredictable, and often surprising, ways in which data surveillance, AI, and the constant presence of algorithms impact our culture and society in the age of global networks. The authors build on this basic premise: no matter what form data takes, and what purpose we think it's being used for, data will always have a secret life. How this data will be used, by other people in other times and places, has profound implications for every aspect of our lives--from our intimate relationships to our professional lives to our political systems.
With the secret uses of data in mind, Sinnreich and Gilbert interview dozens of experts to explore a broad range of scenarios and contexts--from the playful to the profound to the problematic. Unlike most books about data and society that focus on the short-term effects of our immense data usage,
The Secret Life of Data focuses primarily on the long-term consequences of humanity's recent rush toward digitizing, storing, and analyzing every piece of data about ourselves and the world we live in. The authors advocate for "slow fixes" regarding our relationship to data, such as creating new laws and regulations, ethics and aesthetics, and models of production for our data-fied society.
Cutting through the hype and hopelessness that so often inform discussions of data and society,
The Secret Life of Data clearly and straightforwardly demonstrates how readers can play an active part in shaping how digital technology influences their lives and the world at large.
在《數據的秘密生活》中，Aram Sinnreich和Jesse Gilbert探討了數據監控、數位取證和生成式人工智慧在全球網絡時代對我們的文化和社會產生的不可預測和常常令人驚訝的影響方式。作者們基於這個基本前提：無論數據以何種形式存在，我們認為它被用於何種目的，數據總是有著秘密生活。這些數據將如何被其他時空中的人們使用，對我們生活的各個方面都有深遠的影響，從我們的親密關係到我們的職業生活，再到我們的政治體系。
在考慮到數據的秘密用途的情況下，Sinnreich和Gilbert採訪了數十位專家，探討了各種情境和背景，從輕鬆的到深刻的到有問題的。與大多數關於數據和社會的書籍不同，這本《數據的秘密生活》主要關注人類最近對數據數位化、存儲和分析的狂熱行為所帶來的長期後果。作者們主張對我們與數據的關係進行“慢修復”，例如制定新的法律和法規、倫理和美學，以及為我們的數據化社會創建生產模式。
《數據的秘密生活》清晰而直接地展示了讀者如何積極參與塑造數位技術如何影響他們的生活和整個世界，從而突破了關於數據和社會的炒作和絕望的討論。
Aram Sinnreich is an author, professor, and musician. He is Chair of Communication Studies at American University. His books include
Mashed Up,
The Piracy Crusade,
The Essential Guide to Intellectual Property, and
A Second Chance for Yesterday (published as R. A. Sinn).
Jesse Gilbert is an interdisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of visual art, sound, and software design at his firm Dark Matter Media. He was the founding Chair of the Media Technology department at Woodbury University, and he has taught interactive software design at both CalArts and UC San Diego.
Aram Sinnreich是一位作家、教授和音樂家。他是美國大學傳播學系的主任。他的著作包括《Mashed Up》、《The Piracy Crusade》、《The Essential Guide to Intellectual Property》和《A Second Chance for Yesterday》（以R. A. Sinn的名義出版）。Jesse Gilbert是一位跨學科藝術家，探索視覺藝術、聲音和軟體設計的交集，他在自己的公司Dark Matter Media從事相關工作。他曾是Woodbury大學媒體技術系的創系主任，並在CalArts和UC San Diego教授互動軟體設計。
